RNAi is an evolutionarily conserved gene regulatory process that operates in a wide variety of organisms. During RNAi, long doublestranded RNA precursors are processed by Dicer proteins into ∼21-nt siRNAs. Subsequently, siRNAs are incorporated into the RNAinduced silencing complexes (RISCs) that contain Argonaute-family proteins and guide RISC to target RNAs via complementary base pairing, leading to posttranscriptional gene silencing. Select premRNA splicing factors have been implicated in RNAi in fission yeast, worms, and flies, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we show that SmD1, a core component of the Drosophila small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particle implicated in splicing, is required for RNAi and antiviral immunity in cultured cells and in vivo. SmD1 interacts with both Dicer-2 and dsRNA precursors and is indispensable for optimal siRNA biogenesis. Depletion of SmD1 impairs the assembly and function of the small interfering RISC without significantly affecting the expression of major canonical siRNA pathway components. Moreover, SmD1 physically and functionally associates with components of the small interfering RISC, including Argonaute 2, both in flies and in humans. Notably, RNAi defects resulting from SmD1 silencing can be uncoupled from defects in pre-mRNA splicing, and the RNAi and splicing machineries are physically and functionally distinct entities. Our results suggest that Drosophila SmD1 plays a direct role in RNAi-mediated gene silencing independently of its premRNA splicing activity and indicate that the dual roles of splicing factors in posttranscriptional gene regulation may be evolutionarily widespread.
RNAi is an ancient gene regulatory process (1). RNAi is triggered by ∼21-to 24-nt double-stranded siRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) (2-5), which are assembled into RNAinduced silencing complexes (RISCs). Once incorporated into the RISC, one strand of the siRNA or miRNA engages target mRNAs via complementary base pairing and modulates gene expression in a sequence-specific manner. RNAi generally represses gene expression posttranscriptionally by inhibiting translation and/ or promoting destabilization of target mRNAs, or transcriptionally by modulating chromatin structure at the target loci. By regulating the expression of diverse target RNAs, RNAi plays a key role in numerous biological processes, including cancer, development, homeostasis, and antiviral defense.In Drosophila melanogaster, siRNAs are generated from long dsRNA precursors that are either transcribed endogenously or introduced exogenously (6-10). Long dsRNAs are processed into duplex siRNAs by the ribonuclease III Dicer-2 (Dcr-2), which forms a stable complex with the cofactors loquacious (Loqs)-PD and R2D2 (11)(12)(13)(14). The formation of mature RISC is a multistep process. First, the Dcr-2/R2D2 heterodimer gauges the thermodynamic stability of the ends of the siRNA duplex and associates with duplex siRNAs in a polarized pattern to form the RISC-loading complex (RLC) (15, 16). Several othe...